As a child, I was enthralled with the things of God. I felt faith. I felt the mystery of this God I could not see, but whose presence I deeply felt. The stories of the Bible were magical. Something in my imaginative nature connected with the sense of the people of God, spread across time and space, and I loved it. My dad was my very first mentor, praying with me each night, answering all of my inquisitive ponderings. It... Read more
This is a sort of first person witness statement to God’s hand at work in ways we couldn’t imagine. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know that Jesus loved me. The language of my home, parents, grandparents, and the church I belong to (The Church of the Nazarene) celebrated women as leaders – and ordained leaders. The local congregation my Canadian-prairie family belonged to had been planted by two women. My parents (my dad, a New Testament scholar;... Read more
Caitlin McGlade: Eleazar Misael Perez Cabrera sleeps in the music room at Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in north Phoenix. Spiral notebooks lean between shelving cubes along one wall. Black and tan filing cabinets line another. A piano stands opposite Cabrera’s twin bed. He has stayed there since Nov. 17. The church has become his home, his sanctuary. But for how much longer? He shrugs. The 31-year-oldGuatemalan immigrant knows this at least: He is safe. Cabrera and Shadow Rock Church... Read more
When I tweeted for good news stories about women in ministry, Jane Halton, up in Vancouver, wrote in to tell the story of her church … and, prompted just a little from a few questions I asked, this is her post about women in ministry in the Christian Reformed Church and specifically in her own congregation. —— When I first read Scot’s tweet, I immediately thought of all the good news for women within my own congregation and how we... Read more
Many today try to put religion in its place, controlled and contained, tolerated as long as it doesn’t impinge on fact or science. (Image source) Stephen Jay Gould gave as the first commandment of NOMA “Thou shalt not mix magisteria by claiming that God directly ordains important events in the history of nature by special interference knowable only through revelation and not accessible to science.” Michael Ruse allows that scientists can be Christian as long as Christianity can be made... Read more
I never intended to be a pastor. If you’d told me in high school or in college that this is where I’d end up, I’d probably have laughed in your face. No, for me, my journey to the pastorate was more circuitous and unintentional. Ever since I was little, my intention was to be famous. (Insert a wry smile here.) For most of my growing up, “famous” meant being a “famous” concert pianist. I was classically trained and excelled in... Read more
Currently I work in a different kind of ministry that what you would find in the local church. I am actually working for a non-profit children’s home affiliated with Arkansas Baptist Children’s Home. I serve as a case manager (over the boys, and a couple of girls) at the Arkansas Baptist Home for Children. Here I take care of the needs of 23 children on my caseload who have been misplaced due to many issues. My role is to minister... Read more
Ruth Graham: Does your church do this? Should it? Church giving is serious business. Scores of newsletters, workshops, and books are devoted to it, and consultants exist to advise institutions on how to maximize funds. A five-year study released last year estimated that “tithers”—Christians who donate 10% or more of their income to church or charity—contribute more than $50 billion a year. (And that’s not counting the many who give a smaller percentage of their income.) There’s even crime associated... Read more
In keeping with the historical practice of Friends (Quakers), Newberg Friends Church, (Newberg, OR) experienced the leadership and speaking gifts of women from its inception in the 1870s to well into the 1900s. The Evangelical Movement of the 20th century impacted both the private faith experiences of congregants and the larger practice of the church. This was evident in numerous ways, with one being the adoption, at least in practice, of Evangelical attitudes against women preaching in gathered worship. In... Read more
Tara Beth Leach: “Your voice is important and needed in our context,” said Pastor Glen, Teaching Pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Naperville Illinois. I wanted to believe him, I really did, but it was so radically different than what I had just experienced over the last year. I was 26 years old, fresh out of Bible School and a spring chicken in ministry. Upon graduation with a B.A. in Ministry, I had dreams of standing behind the pulpit, preaching the Word... Read more
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